Unless you are a veggie, everybody likes a good steak.

How do you like your steak? For my part I am going to focus on the process before you cook. It can be a nice filet, ribeye, strip, flatiron, whatever. To me, the process before the cooking is maybe 70% of how that steak is going to turn out.

For me, I buy a steak at least 5-6 days before I plan to eat it. Maybe even 10 days.

To me, you have to remove moisture to cook a great steak. The process I take is a 5-6 day process minimum.

I wash and dry the steak. I wrap it in a paper towel and place in on a wire rack over a plate of pink salt rocks in the veggie bin in the refrigerator. You want low humidity, and the enclosed section of the refrigerator maintains an even temp.


After a day, remove the paper, then just let it sit for 4-5 days. I have even done it for a few weeks. You are basically dry aging your steak. You will start to see the color change even after 3-4 days.

How you cook it...however you like. I like a steak seared in a hot cast iron pan, then finished in the oven with butter and herbs, but hey, over a flame, start in an oven and sear at the end, a broiler, it doesn't matter. Let it air out 5-6 days to start the natural breakdown of the connective fibers to end up with a perfect, tender steak that melts in your mouth. You can cook it medium rare and don't end up with water running all over the plate. That isn't juice you see, it is water.

Oh,,,if you do this, you can save the salt for use time and time again. I am talking like a grinder full. Many of the best meat aging rooms are lined with block salt that have been there for years....decades. Just pour it in to a bag and use over and over. It can absorb a lot of moisture. Use it for a year, then change it out.

https://macleans.ca/society/life/pink-salt-helps-beefy-hunks-age-well/

You can't do it on the level as described in the link, but you can use salt to help the home chef get something close to a 40 day dry aged steak at home.

Like I said, I have gone about 20 days. I have to admit, I was getting a bit nervous, and more on point I don't have the room to keep enough steaks to age 40-50 days before I just have to finally pull them out and eat them.

Kind of like when you were a kid, you could only look at that cake for so long before you finally had to swipe a bit of that frosting for a taste.

Try it. I have a thick one in there now since Saturday. I'd like to cook it now, but I will wait until Sunday. It's 1.3 lbs. Big enough my wife and I can split. Well it was, it will have lost some weight through dehydration.

I’m a simple fella. I marinade it in a mild sauce overnight, toss it on the grill with white onions, with a baked potato and side veggies (green beans are my favourite But I like almost any vegetable).

I used to like my steak well done, now I much prefer medium-rare. I like a little pink.

Well Lampy, a little pink is more like medium, but it is a matter of taste and description.

As for veggiesI like them all as well.

I don't like coconut. That isn't a veggie, and I don't like liver. After that, I am pretty open.

I did have squirrel brains and eggs before. Can't say I like that. Maybe if they had cooked them a little more, but they were a little runny for me.

I needed hot sauce. Large amounts of hot sauce can cover up a lot of problems.

I've eaten a large variety of wild game over my lifetime but never included brains on the menu. I do know people who have. Nothing about that sounds remotely appetizing to me. But I guess you never know until you try it. In my case I'll never know.

When I want a really good steak I by dry aged beef, either strip or filet. I prefer either cooked over an open fire. For filet I am a very rare kind of guy, for strip I like it mostly rare.

When I get a hankering for a ribeye I like that medium rare and a good char on the rind. Ribeye needs some time to let things break down a bit so medium rare works.

As alternate cooking method I have been known to Sous Vide a steak and then sear after. You will never overcook it if you cook it in a water bath at the temp you want it done.

Maybe the weirdest thing I’ve eaten is deer heart (texture and taste similar to roast beef).
Oh yeah peen, I can’t stand liver either. Even the smell makes me want to get away fast.

Deer heart, and liver, is something I've never tried. However, I do save them when I get a deer. For my cousin.

I've not had deer liver but I do like other liver (duck, goose, beef, pork) so I would give it a go.

We have calf liver on the regular.

That's impressive... I may have to try some of that... currently I'm pretty simple... put salt and Pepper on it and let it sit out to get room temp... then reverse sear it... slow cook it in my big green egg at like 250... cook to about 125 or 130.... then turn the heat up on the egg... put a cast iron on it... then once it's blazing I sear it and then put some butter over it...

the let sit for 5 min or so after wards...

I also want to try Sous vide sometime to slow cook it then sear it...

You guys can have all the liver you want, completely unopposed by me.

I can't even stand the smell of it.

Ribeye.....

Grilled/Seared on the outside, pink in the middle.

And, if I might add, I've never ever-ever been afraid.

NEVER

Agree... can't eat liver...

OK...you have never been afraid...maybe I missed something?

At any rate. Seared with what looks to be some life remaining in the middle is the way to go.
LOL...I don't blame you. I won't again. It's fairly common in rural areas.

I like dry aged myself. I just don't like the price. If you have the time and space. What I outlined starts you down that road. I am aware of Souse Vide and thought about doing so. When they first came out if was the entire pot. I didn't want another appliance.

I know they now have immersion type deals where you use your own pot. I may give that some consideration, it makes total sense, but you still have bags and such you have to deal with.

I've considered getting a dry aging cabinet. I haven't decided if I want to deal with the mess and space or if I can just buy steak every once in a while, which is probably where I will end up. It has worked well so far for me.

I got my immersion cooker years ago for Christmas. It isn't always the right tool for the job, but when it is it has been great. Frozen and vacuum packed meat tossed into the pot and let it cook. It is great for cooking sausage and frozen only adds about 20 minutes to the cook time. We've done a lot of different foods with it. The biggest downside is meat and vegetables cook at different temps so you have to do them seperately or have two cookers. It is also very easy to overseason food, it's almost like the food marinates while cooking if you drop herbs and spices in.

We already have alot of stuff go in bags, vacuum sealing and freezing is the way to go. I really want a chamber sealer but I don't think we have the space for that.

Space. The eternal problem. Either it is one more thing to clutter up the counters, or get jammed in underneath with the blender, George Formen cooker, croc pot, ice cream maker, etc. LOL

True that...especially when you have a 1940s home with a galley kitchen.

Lol. There's definitely a learning curve with seasoning when you're cooking sous vide. My immersion circulator was fresh out of the box when I decided to do a whole pork loin at my restaurant... Finish the cook, let it rest for a few, sliced like butter. Toss a piece in my mouth.... "Damn! Who rolled this thing through a garlic patch?!" Something small like a steak? You can literally ruin it.

Chamber Vacs are awesome because you can do liquids as well; soups, sauces... besides the fact that you get institutional quality seal. Change the oil and they last forever; as long as you're not a slob and clean them correctly after use. Mine was still going strong at ten years old when I sold my place. Over 25,000 cycles, never even burnt through a seal bar.

Chamber vacs are also pretty big and heavy. Maybe after using you could use it in a bedroom as a night stand..lol.

About the only thing I would use a vacuum sealer for would be to buy whole cuts of rib or loin meat and cut my own steaks. Just get a breaking knife and cut the thickness you want. How many times a year would I do that...3, maybe 4? You could actually save a good portion of money doing that.

I wouldn't use it to seal up extra chili or what not. I don't cook for an army. I am pretty good and making enough for the meal tonight, then another in a couple of days. I can always make enough room in the fridge to store a container of leftovers for a day or two.

Due to my wonderful Health problems I had to give up Ribeye, Delmonico, Prime Rib, and other steaks that are not lien. My go to for steaks now are Top sirloin. Also Bison and elk are my choices for the sirloin not beef.

When we have left overs we vacuum pack. The chamber types are heavy, which is why space is an issue. I am not carrying that up from the basement to use it.

Since you mentioned chili When I make chili I typically grind 5-6 pounds of chuck, brisket flat, short ribs in some combination. It will fill the 6qt dutch oven. We love having left over chili for future dinners or hot dogs. The 6 inch bags are great for hot dog chili.

Steak always smells and looks amazing to me .. and then every time I eat it I get such a bad stomach ache (same with hamburger). It just doesn’t sit well with my digestive issue at all

Bison, elk and venison are all fantastic and very lean in fat content. I would rather have a bison burger or bison steak any time!

Cows beef the original steak, before bison became trendy. Just do it.

It occured to me we've exclusively been talking about American style beef. Two years ago we did a Wagyu steak from Miyazaki. Simply done with light seasoning and then a very quick sear. This was a strip steak. We shared this with a side of garlic herb pasta.

It was divine.

I had a similar post a while ago. Koji rice is the way to go. Put ground up koji on a thick steak for three days scrape and rinse it off. Hit it with some garlic powder, salt and olive oil for about an hour. Then I grill it in a kaloric air fryer at 500 degrees. A cast iron skillet with some clarified butter is also a very good option. I sent my first 2 kaloric air fryers back ( they stopped working ) so I wouldn't recommend purchasing one , but they do grill up a nice steak when the work. They have a plate you put the steak on that gives it grill marks. I also found the best steak for me is a 1.75 lbs rib eye. I cut them in half and freeze one half. Then pound them down to 1" thickness before I start the koji. Peen if that is how you make your steak you must try the kioji. I dont think you will go back to your way. Gm this will also make those lean cuts soo much more tender. We just celebrated or anniversary and had some wagu beef strips on our indoor grill. Its almost Kobe and a lot cheaper. For my birthday my wife got grade 5 Kobe steak we like it with yuzu salt and rare. It was amazing. No koji needed for those. I like all my steak medium rare. Would love it on a grill but live in NYC so not an option too often. If you love a good steak, do yourself a favor and do the koji thing I love to pair it with a Guiness and Jameson 18 year old in the winter or Corona and Don Julio 1942in the summer. Enjoy! thank my later

FYI
To anyone who is trying the Koji. They cook up quicker than regular steaks. Especially at the end , the temp can jump quickly. Be very careful not to over cook! thank me later

Say it ain't so, GM. Life can be so unfair....

One week short of six months without booze as well

I can sympathize somewhat; I quit smoking (after near 60 years) almost 3 years ago. Never was a big drinker (except once in a while) either....

speed has a @uality not to be overlooked when talking about cooking steak.

He ate 72oz Steak in 6 minutes, 2nd Fastest All Time. vid in link...

The Old 96er...

My point was that not every time would it be best to age and prepare a steak beforehand. If one can go from, the decision to cook steak to the end of consuming the steak in a very short time, then that has a quality all of its own.

He followed that up with a world record six pound dump 3 hours later

T-Bones are my favorite. But lately I’ve been buying 3 packs of Delmonico’s. I like mine medium, pink in the middle. I have two go to methods when prepping and cooking them. Once home from the store, I’ll wrap them in paper towels for about an hour or so. Then olive oil,salt,pepper both sides.
To cook them right (in my opinion) I’ll get my charcoal grill going, sear each side for a minute directly over the coals, then move them over to indirect heat. I’ll usually grill them for about 4 minutes total each side. I keep the lid on the grill while they cook. Place a little pad of butter on each one and let them rest for 10 minutes. My other method is to prep them the same way, but cook them on my cast iron pan on the stove. High heat, sear each side for one minute, take them off, turn the heat down to medium, and cook each side for about 3-4 minutes. Pad of butter on each and let them rest.
I usuall don’t need sauce but if I want to spoil myself, I’ll break out the Heinz 57. Serve them with a side of corn and either a baked potato or flavored noodles.
Good stuff.

Delmonico cuts are always good.


I might like mine a notch or two down from medium pick, but no worries if that is how I get it..

‘Peen, Just curious….. Best steak you’ve ever had from which restaurant? Also, where to go for the best steak in Cleveland?

20 years ago, I had a great steak from a place called Conrad’s in Vegas. I think it was in the Mirage. In Cleveland, Morton’s is good but my favorite is at a place called Harry’s on Brecksville road in Independence. - Not too pricey but always good.